NorRay Week Collection
by Jade Natsugawa
Summary: A collection of pieces based off NorRay prompts I found on Twitter.
1. Day 1- AU

**January 1**

**Day 1- AU (I experimented with some sort of royalty/normal life AU, it was really fun!)**

**Happy New Year!**

"Norman, get down here this instant!"

Norman flinched as his father's shouts reached his ears. He was, unfortunately, the son of Peter Ratri, the leader of the Ratri Clan, the royal family that ruled over the country of Lambda. His father wasn't exactly a person you would call soft and fuzzy, which meant that practically nothing Norman ever did satisfied him. There was always too much to do. After all, after his brother Smee had died, Norman was expected to be the future ruler of Lambda, so he had a lot to learn about things like diplomacy and relationships between countries.

And yet, he hated this life. He was forced to spend his days in solitude, given that his father wouldn't let him get out of their mansion much or spend time with other children. The closest thing that he had to a friend was his bodyguard, Vincent, and even he was more of a servant than a friend, what with their age gap and his unflagging obedience. Worse still, Norman's relationship with his father was far from ideal, and as Norman grew older, both parties were found increasingly guilty of doing things just to spite the other. Today was another example of this- over the past few days, Norman had been purposely flunking his tests (which, according to his father, took the place of schools), a surefire way to make his father mad. And apparently, it had worked. However, while it was not like him to leave the consequences unaddressed, he had apparently done so. Which was why he was a little bit scared as he trudged down the stairs and into his father's conference room.

The room consisted of a large oval carpet, on which sat a big table, which was empty save for his father sitting in his designated chair at the head. Norman sat down as far away from him as possible. His bodyguard (Vincent) walked in right after he sat down, and stood quietly in the corner.

"So," Peter Ratri started, using the deadly voice that made clear the fact that he was quite mad. He slid a sheet of paper across the table, and Norman reached out and grabbed it. "Take a look at these. Your test scores."

Norman obeyed. Apparently, over the last few days, his scores had been around 80 out of the potential 300. He had flunked them pretty well.

"Yes, Father."

"Why have your scores dropped?" Peter Ratri continued.

"I don't know, Father," Norman lied.

"If I may…" came a quiet voice from the corner. Both father and son turned their gazes towards Vincent, who cleared his throat and spoke. "If I remember correctly, we have been occupying Master Norman's schedule with other things as of late. He may just need a little bit of a… refresher."

"I figured as much," Peter Ratri remarked, and he turned towards Norman. "I am going to assign you tutoring sessions with Miss Isabella Grace. She is an esteemed tutor, and her grandmother has worked with our family before. You will spend your Sundays in tutoring sessions with her. God knows how happy I will be to be rid of you for those days."

Norman said nothing in reply, but inside he was rejoicing. He would be equally happy to be apart from his father, even for just a little bit. And to be honest, he couldn't remember the last time he had left his mansion.

However, to make sure that his father didn't change his mind, he showed no emotion. "Good bye, Father," he said as he stood up to leave.

Once he had left the room, his ecstasy took over him and a gigantic grin spread over his face. He would get to leave the house- once a week! He had never been more excited in his life.

Sunday came, and Norman was woken up early and dressed in a suit to go out. Norman was still yawning when he was shoved into the Ratris' limousine. He stared out the window as the car sped past forests, farms, and cities. Finally, after an hour-long drive, the car pulled into the circular driveway of a large, european-styled house (not nearly as large as the Ratri mansion, but large all the same) and parked there. Immediately, the door to the house burst open, and three young children came flooding out. They ran over to the Ratri limousine and stopped in front of it, staring at it in awe. Norman stared back at the little kids- there were two girls and one boy. The older girl looked to be about 6, whereas the others looked around 4. The boy had dark skin, and the younger girl had strawberry blonde hair, a freckled face, and a cute headband. The older girl had an angelic face with two blonde pigtails, and she was clutching a tattered bunny doll. The first thought that came to Norman's mind was _cute_.

Then, Norman's attention focused on the door, as a tall, raven-haired boy came rushing out of it, clearly in pursuit of the three younger ones. Norman watched his agile movements as he bounded over to the limousine and gently scolded the three little kids for staring. Then he looked up through the car window at Norman. Norman stared back in response.

After a minute, a subtle flush crept up on the black-haired boy's cheeks, and he smirked at Norman. "Are you going to get out, or are you just going to keep staring?" he asked sarcastically, and now it was Norman's turn to flush red as he promptly sprung up and opened the car door.

"Hi, I'm Norman," he said as he clambered out of the limousine in a rather ungraceful manner.

"I know," the other boy said, smirk widening. "I think the whole country does, for that matter. It's not like your face isn't broadcasted on practically every TV."

"Believe me, I know that," Norman muttered.

"I'm Ray," the black-haired boy grinned.

"Nice to meet you, Ray." The one eye Norman could see had a mischievous glint to it, while the other was covered in a mop of black hair. He had a slender body and broad shoulders. This time, the first word that came to Norman's head was… _handsome_.

Norman flushed darker as Ray appeared to give him a once-over. "You know, when I thought of the Prince of Lambda coming to our house… this wasn't what I expected."

"What do you mean?"  
"For a prince… you look surprisingly… normal," was Ray's response. "Your hair is all messy, and you're slouching," he pointed out.

"Like you're one to talk," Norman replied, gesturing to Ray's informal clothing and posture.

"True," he grinned.

Both of them had their attention drawn to the door once more as a tall woman emerged from it, carrying the young boy while the two younger girls flounced around at her side. There was also another older girl with orange hair who looked to be a little bit younger than Ray trailing behind her.

"Ray, get back inside," the woman ordered.

Ray sighed. "Yes, mom," he responded dejectedly, trudging inside with his hands in his pockets. The orange-haired girl gave him a sympathetic look as he passed.

Once Ray was safely inside, the woman greeted Norman warmly. "I'm your tutor, Isabella. You can call me Mom if you want. I'll most likely confuse you with my kids anyway." She laughed brightly, and Norman smiled as well. "Come in!"

Norman stepped in and slipped off his shoes, following Isabella up a flight of stairs and down a hallway to what seemed like a designated study room. There was a small table inside, with a vase of healthy-looking marigolds in the center, and Isabella sat, gesturing for Norman to do the same. The boy who she was carrying jumped onto the floor, earning a scolding from her. "So… have you met my kids yet?"

"Um, just Ray," Norman responded.

"I see. Well, the young boy is named Phil, the youngest girl with straight hair is Sherry, the girl with blonde pigtails and a bunny doll is Conny, the girl with the wild orange hair is Emma, and then there's Ray."

Norman laughed. "That's a lot of kids!"

Isabella laughed as well, a pleasant sound that Norman was quickly becoming used to. "My sister Krone has more. Unfortunately, these kids don't have a father."

"Oh," Norman responded. "So you're not married?"

"Nope!" Isabella grinned. "I was never really interested."

"So then you raised all these kids by yourself?" Norman asked incredulously.

"Mm-hmm."

"Wow!

Isabella cleared her throat. "Anyway, we should get to your tutoring. I'm going to get my kids so that all of you can take your tests together."

"You make your kids take the tests too? I thought they were just for isolated children or something."

"Nope. Now you can follow me. We're going to the testing room."

After everyone had taken the test and the children were granted free time, Norman looked around for the boy he had been conversing with before- Ray. He was sitting in the corner, reading a book. Norman stood up to approach him, but he was stopped by the orange-haired girl, Emma. "Hi!" she chirped.

"H-hi," Norman replied, startled by the amount of energy in her greeting.

"I'm Emma," she greeted him. "And you're Prince Norman!"

"Yes," he responded. "Nice to meet you."

"Do you want to be friends?" Emma chirped.

Norman chuckled. "Sure. What about the boy sitting in the corner?"

Emma sighed. "Ray just likes to spend all of his time reading. You'll be lucky if you can get him to play with you."

Norman sighed.

Emma shoved him. "Don't look so dejected! C'mon, let's go play tag in the forest! If we're lucky, Aunt Krone will come with our cousins and then it'll be a really big game!" She grabbed his hands excitedly and dragged him downstairs and out the back door.

Norman gazed at his surroundings, completely in awe. A vast, lush forest surrounded the Grace mansion. It appeared to be roughly an acre in size, and it was filled with tall trees, large, moss-covered boulders, shrubbery, and other flora and fauna. "All of us siblings and cousins have this forest practically memorized by heart," Emma stated proudly, coming up behind them. "And now it's your turn! C'mon, play with us!"

Sherry, Phil, and Conny were waiting at the edge of the forest. "Is Ray playing?" Phil asked hopefully.

"Nope," Emma sighed. "He's reading under the tree like always." She gestured over to the single tree that stood on the grassy, open part of the property, under which Ray was slumped with his head buried in a thick book. His hair flopped in his eye, and he seemed to be continuously brushing it away, and the fact that it just kept staying there seemed to be aggravating him tremendously. Norman fought back the urge to giggle. _Cute…_

"Alright then! Who's going to be it?" Emma asked brightly, disrupting Norman's thoughts and banishing any trace of dismay they'd felt at Ray's preference of solitude. "Norman, why don't you be it?"

"Um… how do you play?" Norman asked sheepishly, earning a shocked gasp from all the children.

Now that Norman had been educated on the basics of the game of tag and the game had started, he was running through the forest, enjoying the feeling of the wind nipping at his cheeks and further messing up his snowy white hair. The younger children didn't appear to be very good at hiding the traces and hints of where they were, which Norman decided to use to his advantage. His training as a country leader had given him some exposure to strategy and tactics, although instead of using it for simple games, their primary purposes were fighting wars, laying out zones in cities, etc. Now, he was getting to try those skills out in a different, lighter situation, which he was excited to do.

_Map out the enemy's moves,_ his uncle Andrew had taught him. _Know their options for what to do, predict which one they will execute, and plan accordingly. If they're certain to turn to the left? Follow them there before they even start to turn._

He used these tactics on Phil first. The 4 year old boy's short legs didn't allow him to move very fast, so Norman went easy on him for a minute or so before running forward and tapping him on the shoulder. "Got you, Phil!"

The boy pouted, and Norman grinned. He then proceeded to run around and catch Conny and Sherry within the next three minutes. Finally, the only one left for Norman to catch was Emma.

It appeared to Norman that Emma was much better at the game than her younger siblings. She didn't leave as many hints as to where she was, and her age gave her long legs that allowed her to easily take large strides and therefore move faster than her siblings. Norman could tell that it would take more effort to catch Emma than the rest of her siblings, but he didn't stop. Instead, he began scouring the forest floor for footprints. After a minute or two, he found some, and immediately started following them.

It didn't take long for Norman to find Emma. She was hiding behind a large boulder between a very tall tree and a very short tree. Norman hid behind another tree and plotted. When Emma spotted him, she would most likely turn around and run away from him. So if he charged forwards without stopping at all to hesitate…

He snuck out of his tree, lunged forwards at Emma, and ran, not thinking about what he would do if his strategy was wrong.

30 seconds later, Emma was sprawled on the grass next to Ray, whining loudly. "He beat me! This pale, scrawny boy who looks like he's barely ever gotten in a sit-up in his life goes and catches me within 5 seconds! How?!"

"It's because Norman used strategy, dummy," Ray told her, playing with the orange, antennae-like strand of hair that stuck up on the top of her head.

At that moment, Norman came over and plopped down beside Ray, who grinned. "Look, Emma- here's the Prince himself." Emma moaned in reply, and Ray directed his voice to Norman as he smirked, "I think she's in shock."

"I… can see that," Norman replied. "Why didn't you play?"

"It's boring," Ray replied, his voice unwavering and without the faintest trace of hesitation. "Whenever I play, I win, because a certain numbskull here-" He dug his finger into Emma's hair suggestively- "just won't learn to play with her brain!"

Emma's moans continued, this time with a little bit of fire to them.

"Hey, in Emma's defense, she beat the four-year olds," Norman chimed in.

The two of them shared a laugh. When they were done, Norman spoke again. "But seriously, would you play next time if I offered to challenge you?"

"Hmm… maybe. How does a one-on-one tag battle sound?" Ray asked eagerly.

"It sounds amazing."

"Perfect," Ray replied with a hint of a confident smirk. "You are so going down."

They erupted into laughter again.

"Hey, um…" Norman's voice came out hesitant and wavering after a brief period of silence. "I really appreciate the fact that you and your siblings aren't treating me like the most important thing in the country. It gets old. I've never really been challenged or teased much before, and it feels strangely nice."

"Anytime," Ray snorted. "Hey, what's it like being royalty?"

"Not as good as you might think," Norman sighed immediately. "My father can be very… demanding sometimes. We don't really get along. I actually kind of flunked my tests to make him angry."

"Hey, that sounds exactly like my relationship with my mom!" Ray exclaimed, and Norman let out a dark chuckle at the sheer irony of the boy's bright tone contrasting with his dark words. "She hates me, and honestly, the feeling is mutual."

"Really?" Norman asked incredulously. "Why?"

"Well…" Ray lowered his voice. "She says that all of us were… created… by using donor sperm. But not me. She doesn't know who my father was, but she didn't necessarily have me by choice. I guess she was drunk or something, because she just woke up one morning and… well… she was having me."

Norman's face flushed a little bit at Ray's nonchalant tone used to describe the more… mature elements of his thoughts. "Really? She seems so kind… you'd never guess that something like that happened."

"Well, Peter Ratri seems nice on TV."

"True," Norman chuckled darkly.

"It's like a complete facade. She dotes on all my siblings… she's so caring with her students… but with me…?" Ray trailed off his sentence.

"Yeah, I get what you're talking about," Norman empathized with him.

Just then, someone Norman didn't recognize- a tall, thin boy with dark skin and hair- ran out of the back door of the Grace mansion, ringing a small (but very loud and annoying) bell. "Guys, time for lunch!"

"Hi, Don!" Emma jumped up and greeted him with a giant hug, all traces of former shock and defeat gone in an instant. Ray got up as well, motioning for Norman to follow him. Norman stood up and walked behind Ray towards the stranger.

The tall boy- Don, apparently- glanced at Norman and instantly became a flustered mess. "What's the Prince doing here?" he hissed to Ray while dropping the bell to do some sort of an awkward bow.

"Mom is tutoring him," Ray replied. "He flunked his tests on purpose to aggravate his father."

Norman gasped. "Ray!"

Raya smirked. "Hey, you were the one who said you wanted the teasing."

Norman groaned, choosing to ignore the flush spreading across his cheeks. He found it odd that he had to assure himself that it was only from the brief humiliation of having his little secret exposed. Definitely not the way Ray's eyes sparkled mischievously that was just so darn _cute_-

Norman fought back the urge to smack himself in the face. He was being irrational, he'd never felt like this before, so it must've just been the sheer overwhelming quality of being presented with so many kind new friends at once- totally not that peculiar feeling often described in the books his father never let him read (but he snuck in some peeks anyway)- right?

He chose to let the matter drop, so as not to embarrass himself further. Instead, he focused on the boy who was now introducing himself to Norman. "Um, hi, I'm Don, Your Highness. Pleased to make your acquaintance-"

Before he could get any further, Norman placed a hand on his shoulder. "No, please don't be so formal. Think of me as any regular kid, okay? I don't want you to be uncomfortable or anything."

Don swallowed. "O-okay." He took a breath in and then smiled brightly. "Come in! Everyone wants to say hi!"

Norman lagged behind with Ray as everyone else rushed into the house. "I'm assuming those are your cousins? Miss Isabella told me about her sister Krone who had lots of children too…"

A nod from Ray confirmed his theory. "Yeah. Aunt Krone has 6 children, and rather like my mother, she used donor sperm as well-"

"Did she tell you that?" Norman interjected, slightly incredulous.

"No," Ray snorted. "I eavesdropped on her and Mom talking about… stuff."

"That makes more sense," Norman grimaced. "Anyway, please continue."

Ray kept talking. "Krone has 6 children. Don you already met, but then there's Gilda, Anna, Nat, Thoma, and Lanni. Gilda is the fashion-obsessed one with round glasses, Anna is the one with long blonde braids, Nat is the one with the big nose, Thoma is the one with black hair that sticks out, and Lanni has blonde hair that looks a little bit like an onion. Our friend Oliver's dad calls him 'curry ingredient.'"

Norman laughed at that. "Was he happy about that?"

"No. Actually, I don't think anybody was happy with their nicknames."

"He gave all of you nicknames? What was yours?" Norman asked excitedly.

Ray grimaced. "He called me 'one-eyed sleepyhead' because I was sleep-deprived from fixing some emergency system in the basement."

Norman giggled, and Ray swatted at him. Then they walked into the house, both laughing.

"How was your tutoring session?" Vincent asked as he and Norman rode home in their limousine.

"Fine," Norman said, although Vincent raised an eyebrow at the almost euphoric tone to his voice. Norman giggled. "Alright, maybe it was a little bit more than fine. Miss Isabella's family is really friendly. They were talking to me, and it was nice."

The young prince's enthusiasm made Vincent smile, but the rest of the car ride was silent.

Throughout the week, all Norman could think about was his tutoring session. He wanted to see Isabella and her family again and talk with Ray and Emma and their siblings and cousins. So, when Sunday rolled around once again, Norman was ecstatic. He was ready to go even before the knock came at his door, signaling that it was time for him to get up.

Because of this, Vincent ended up talking Norman to Isabella's house an hour early. The boy was just so excited, and all of his attendants were ready to go, so he figured that it wouldn't be too much trouble for them to leave now. God knew what kind of traffic they would encounter on their way there, especially on a weekend morning.

It was Emma who responded to Norman's knock at the door. "Come in!" she beamed, motioning him inside.

"Mom isn't entirely up yet," she explained once Norman was inside and had taken his shoes off, "and neither is Ray, or Conny, or Sherry. Phil is an early riser, though, he was up before I was," she chuckled. "Ray on the other hand…"

"What?" Norman asked, curious, as he put his shoes together neatly in the corner.

"He's a sleepyhead," she giggled. "Not a morning person at all. Sometimes I like to play pranks on him in the morning."

"Oh," Norman replied, chuckling a little bit as well.

"I know!" Emma's eyes lit up suddenly. "We should prank him together!"

Norman grimaced. "I-I'm not so sure about that-"

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" Emma exclaimed quietly. "I have a great idea!"

So Norman followed Emma into the kitchen and watched as she opened up the refrigerator and took out a pitcher of iced tea. Then she quickly darted into the room downstairs where Phil was playing, grabbing a water gun from a neatly weaved basket of toys on the floor. "I'm gonna borrow this, okay, Phil?" she winked, and she grabbed it and took off.

"What are you planning, Emma?" Norman asked quietly as Emma poured the iced tea into the water gun. Then her plan hit him with a frightening realization. "Oh- I- are you sure that's a good idea? Like, you're sure he's not going to accidentally choke on it or something?"

"C'mon, it's Ray we're talking about here!" she giggled. "He'll be fine. He always is."

"If you say so," Norman shrugged, but honestly, he was excited to see how this would unfold.

"Shh," Emma hissed unnecessarily as she approached the first door in the upstairs hallway. It had a sign on it that said, "Ray and Phil's room- keep out!" and underneath the sign was a drawing of an owl with a circle of dotted lines enclosing it. Emma ignored the sign and opened the door quietly, creeping along the wall and motioning to Ray's bed, which was occupied by a curled-up lump of blankets. Sticking out of that lump was a head covered in a messy mop of raven-black hair, and once again, the first word that came to Norman's mind was _cute_. However, this time, that thought was accompanied by a slight red tint to his cheeks.

"Here goes nothing," Emma whispered, taking careful aim with her water gun. Norman suppressed a laugh as she held the water gun steady and pressed the trigger, firing a stream of light brown liquid at Ray.

"Blarghjswf!" Ray jolted up immediately and made a loud sputtering noise as he was blasted with the iced tea. His hair was soaking wet, and he had a look of utmost outrage on his face that made the laughter Norman had suppressed come bubbling up again, and he and Emma exploded into a fit of giggles at exactly the same time.

"EMMAAAAAAAAA!" Ray roared, throwing himself out of bed and charging at the door, but Emma was already dragging a hysterically laughing Norman out the door of Ray's room and down the stairs.

Once they were safely back in the kitchen, Emma grinned at Norman, who was still shaking with silent tremors of laughter. "Well, if we're lucky, all that commotion will have woken up Mom, so you'll be able to start your tutoring session soon."

"I guess," Norman grimaced. "Pranking Ray is more fun than tutoring, though. I'd admit that any day."

The two shared a mischievous smile, and then they were silent for a little while.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Norman said as he stood up.

"Do you need me to show you where it is, or…"

"No, I'll be fine," Norman responded quickly. "I saw one last week on the way to the test room."

With that, he somehow managed to find his way back through the complicated maze of rooms in the mansion to the staircase. He ascended it quietly, tiptoeing across the hallway so as to keep Sherry, Conny, and Isabella asleep. Then, he finally found the bathroom he was looking for. Tentatively, he opened the door- only to see Ray, clad in only his underwear, looking back at him with an embarrassed expression on his face. The shower was humming quietly in the background, ready for Ray to use. Norman facepalmed, a wild blush spreading across his cheeks. Of course he had forgotten to knock.

But Ray was _really_ handsome…

His chest and core muscles were well-defined, and he was tall and lean and scrawny. He had a really nice-looking body, and Norman could barely tear his eyes away once he had finished facepalming. Eventually, though, the realization sank in that _I just walked in on Ray about to go into the shower practically naked_ and he did a complete 180 and ran out of the bathroom, shutting the door tightly behind him.

He spent the whole ride home convincing himself that the reason he couldn't focus during his test and study session certainly wasn't that he just couldn't stop thinking about how darn _handsome_ Ray was.

Over the next few weeks, Norman continued to go to his tutoring sessions. His test scores were slowly improving. He had figured that the best way to convince his father that Vincent was right, that he had just needed a refresher to get his scores back to normal, was to slowly improve his scores- that way, his father would be satisfied with both his and Miss Isabella's work, and he could maximize his time spend with the Grace kids. He'd gotten to talk a lot with Ray and Emma, and he'd also gotten to see their cousins frequently. He'd grown close with Don, Gilda, and Anna lately, and they were all very interested in his stories. They also all agreed that he was amazing at tag. Recently, Ray had started playing with them, much to Norman's delight. However, Emma was happier than Norman was about it, much to Ray's dismay, because Norman quickly figured out that when Emma was happy, she was also very loud.

It was on one Sunday where Aunt Krone had come over with her 6 kids that Norman decided to sneak out of the game of tag and join Ray under the tree. He was welcomed briefly and quietly, as Ray had a book in his lap and didn't seem to want to pay attention to anything else. So, Norman skootched closer to him and read over his shoulder.

They stayed like that for about half an hour, until Ray's eyes closed and he dozed off, laying his head gently on Norman's shoulder.

Norman's cheeks flushed pink upon realizing that Ray was sleeping on his shoulder, before he smiled peacefully, leaned his head against Ray's soft hair, and fell asleep as well.

Norman's eyes fluttered open, and his world seemed warm and fuzzy as he slowly took in his surroundings. The first thing he recognized was a very heavy object on his chest. Looking down, he recognized the object as Ray's head, and the pale peach color on his cheeks rapidly changed into a deep scarlet. But he was too tired to mind- he just felt so comfortable with Ray's head on his chest, and somehow, Ray had slipped inside his arms and was resting peacefully inside his embrace, and Norman loved that feeling, and so he just closed his eyes once again and let it be.

That is, until he realized that there were people around them, whispering and pointing and silently squealing. His face- which, he realized, had some sort of a peaceful smile on it- morphed into one of displeasure, and he opened his eyes and focused more on his surroundings.

All the cousins and siblings were clustered around them. Emma was whispering with Gilda, and Norman could make out parts of their conversation if he listened hard enough, but from what he could hear, it sounded like the kind of conversation that he did not want to be involved in. Emma sounded like she was silently fangirling, given that she had a gigantic smile on her face and that she was bouncing around and couldn't sit still. Norman rolled his eyes and announced, "I can hear you guys."

Emma shot up and blushed, as did many of their other siblings and cousins. However, the thing that caught Norman's attention most was the fact that Ray was stirring.

Norman's brain instantly spiraled into panic mode. How was Ray going to react to the fact that he had been _sleeping in Norman's arms with his head on his chest for God knows how long?!_ Norman was sure the answer wouldn't be good. However, Ray seemed just as content as Norman had been as he opened his eyes to see that his face was practically buried in Norman's sweater-vest. As a matter of fact, to Norman's utter embarrassment (and, as little as he wanted to admit it, his utmost joy), all he did was burrow closer into his chest, which (as expected) made Emma and the others erupt into a fresh wave of squeals and whispers. Norman flushed an even deeper shade of red and shot out a glare to the cluster of children as Ray let out a quiet, contented sigh that sent a peculiar vibration through Norman's chest.

As much as it pained Norman to jerk Ray out of his peaceful reverie, it had to be done, so he gently poked Ray in the shoulder. "Ray…" he whispered gently. "Ray, get up."

Ray groaned. Apparently, the title of "not a morning person" didn't do him justice- it wasn't just the morning when he had trouble getting up, Norman realized as he shook Ray a little bit in further efforts to get him awake. However, the only thing Ray did was snuggle closer and closer. Finally, he wrestled Norman to the ground ("All in your sleep! Wow!" as Emma would later gush to a furiously blushing Ray and Norman) and promptly fell asleep again on top of him. At this point, Norman was helpless to do anything, save for flailing around the little amount of his limbs that weren't practically pinned down by Ray, so Emma had to haul him up and give him a whack over the head to wake him.

When Ray was (finally) fully awake, he looked around at the cluster of children gathered around them, then at Emma, who was wearing a concerned (but also thoroughly amused) expression, and finally, at Norman, whose cheeks and ears now resembled plump, ripe tomatoes. Instantly, Ray knew that he had done something to Norman in his sleep, and his face went through an awkward cycle of extremely pale, greenish, and bright vermillion as the cluster of children watched. Thankfully, he was saved by the announcement of lunch (via annoyingly loud ringing noises) and he darted inside before anybody else could say a word.

That night, both boys were kept awake for long periods of time, wondering about the other. The only clear conclusion they came to was that they couldn't wait for next Sunday.


	2. Day 2- Coffee, Snow

**Note that I am not really a coffee drinker, so I blame my troubles in writing this on the coffee. **_**The coffee**_**. Totally not procrastination, nope, no way, why would you think that? :)**

**I also apologize for my slight inability to write romance. I've never really tried it before.**

Ray hated snow.

He hated it with a remarkable passion. The cold, white stuff never failed to get on his nerves. It reminded him of painful things- specifically, Norman, and the evening in their freshman year of college in which he had announced to Ray and his friend Emma his departure for a research project in a new experimental country called Lambda. It was governed by Peter Ratri, but the people there were being genetically altered and they needed Norman's brains to help them with something that had gone wrong. It was, potentially, a place he could never return from, which was why Ray was so angry that he was leaving- the last thing he wanted was for Norman to go on a basically suicidal mission. And that evening, the one where Norman announced his departure, it was snowing- the first snow of the season, in late November- and ever since watching Norman depart in the flurries, he had associated snow with bad memories.

Which was why he was so aggravated today, two years later (as a Junior now), as he walked around the Grace Field University campus. He had no classes today, so he was planning on going to the library to work on his essay for math. However, he stopped short when he caught a glimpse of a hooded figure in front of him… Ray could catch glimpses of snowy white hair under his hood, not unlike that of Norman's. He walked faster, trying to catch up to the hooded figure.

The figure must've heard him approaching, because he suddenly turned around, and that was when Ray recognized the thick white eyebrows and sky blue eyes. Yes, it was Norman. He was back, alive! Ray rejoiced as Norman recognized him. His hair had grown quite a bit over the last two years, and it was now close to covering both eyes instead of just one, but Norman didn't seem to notice. "...Ray?" he whispered.

"Hi, Norman," Ray replied, smiling as he tried not to cry.

The two boys ran forward and hugged tightly. "I'm back," Norman said quietly, his voice muffled in Ray's shoulder. It sounded like he was about to cry as well.

"I can see that," Ray laughed, rubbing his back gently. "It's been two years! And you couldn't even keep in touch with me?"

"Sorry," Norman apologized, his words still muffled in Ray's jacket. "Mr. Ratri was very strict in what we could do in Lambda. I didn't get to do much when I wasn't researching besides sitting in a room playing with a rubix cube, wondering how you guys were. Did you and Emma get into Mr. Minerva's class?"

"Yes," Ray answered. "Thanks for recommending us." Two years prior, Ray, Norman, and Emma had discovered a special course for gifted students led by Mr. Minerva. Ray had made elaborate plans to sacrifice his priorities to get Emma and Norman into the class. He decided that, to give Emma and Norman a better chance of getting in, he wouldn't apply for the class himself. Ray didn't find out until later, after he had decided that he wouldn't even try to get himself in so that he could get Emma and Norman spots in the class, but Norman had recommended them to Mr. Minerva to get them into the class while he researched in Lambda. "I still can't believe you managed to trick us like that, though."

He felt Norman's lips quirk up into a wry smile before he answered. "Uh-huh. Looks like I guessed right, then? I'd suspected something was afoot when you said 'I hope you two get in,' but I only really knew when I saw that you hadn't filled out the application papers."

"You looked in my drawers?" Ray narrowed his eyes, stopping his hand mid-rub.

"Sorry," Norman laughed.

Ray pulled apart from Norman. "So… do you want to get coffee or something?"

"Sure!" Norman's eyes sparkled, and Ray smirked, knowing that Norman had always had a soft spot for coffee. Specifically, the small coffee shop in the corner of their campus called "The Caffeinated Neverland" that they had discovered while touring the campus. Ray had been patronizing it whenever possible to keep it open, so that he could take Norman to it as much as he wanted when he came back. And now, he would finally get to do just that.

The two boys walked side by side in the snow, leaving perfect footprints in the light white substance. Ray shivered, despite having on a jacket and snow boots. This did not go unnoticed by Norman, who began taking off his scarf.

"What are you- Norman, no! That's yours! You wear it!"

Norman smirked and shook his head. "Nah," he said dismissively, proceeding to wrap the scarf around the other boy's neck. He then grabbed Ray's hand and rubbed it in an attempt to generate friction, and Ray marveled at how soft and warm his hands were. Ray had decided on art- specifically, oil painting- for his major, and his hands were always slightly calloused from holding and scraping the palette knives for hours on end. Norman's soft hands were a welcomed contrast.

After walking for a little while longer, occasionally brushing shoulders, they arrived at the coffee shop. The sign had fancy font with letters that bobbed up and down, and the two "f"s in "caffeinated" were adorned with drawings of coffee beans and tea bags. Norman bounced up and down excitedly at the sight, for he had not been here in a very long time and was looking forward to getting what had quickly become his favorite drink two years prior.

The two walked through the door and up to the counter, at which there was standing a girl slightly younger than them (who, apparently, was named Helen) with shoulder-length blonde braids and an all-white uniform. "What would you two like?" she asked.

Ray knew what Norman wanted, so he ordered for both of them. "I'll have the Paradise Latte and the Grace Field Special, please."

"And can I have a name for your order?"

"Ray."

"Thank you," Helen smiled kindly. "Your order will be ready shortly."

Norman gestured to a table, and Ray walked over to it and sat down with him, taking off his jacket and exposing the gray fleece he had on underneath. They were silent for a moment before Norman spoke.

"God, it's been so long since I've talked to you last… how are you and Emma? Anything spark there yet?" Norman asked, elbowing Ray playfully in the ribs.

"You know I don't like her that way. She's one of my best friends, and that's all she'll ever be," came Ray's relatively deadpan response, and Norman found himself chuckling… with a sigh of relief?

Norman laughed, and Ray took this opportunity to ask him questions. "What about you? How are you doing? Are you okay? Are you sick or anything?"

Norman snorted. "No, I'm fine. There was a little bit of pneumonia going around-"

"Seriously, I have no idea how you can say that so nonchalantly-"

"And it was FINE, Ray, I barely even caught a cold." Norman knew how overly concerned his friend could get. Honestly, it was kind of cute. He wondered how he had survived two years without him and Emma.

"And you're not just saying that to not worry me?" Ray asked, the corners of his mouth turning down suspiciously.

Norman sighed. "No, Ray. I'm really fine." He hoped Ray could see through his lies- he had, in fact, caught the Lambda sickness. It still gave him nightmares.

Ray sighed, seeming to realize that any further interrogation would get him nowhere. "All right. You're off the hook for now," he huffed, folding his hands on the table.

The two were silent for a moment before Norman spoke again. "You know, Ray… I really missed you." His mind flitted back to the many instances where Ray had occupied his thoughts back in Lambda. He would wonder how Ray was doing, if he had succeeded in Emma's plan to get in and not missed out on the opportunity, and if he had, was he having fun? Norman wished very much that he was there with his best friends, and sometimes he found himself shedding a tear or two. But each time, he would gather up all the strength he could muster and convince himself that this- what he was doing- was for the greater good, and he could go back home proud afterwards.

That was when Norman felt arms being wrapped around him yet again. He stiffened, surprised, when he saw that Ray was hugging him tightly. To his shock, there were tears dripping down his face. "Emma and I missed you too," he whispered, his voice slightly frail, and Norman blushed as the embrace tightened. He tried to ignore the stares of other customers, but it was very hard to do so- until he returned the embrace, and the two friends were just sitting there in each others' arms, now unaware of the customers staring and whispering.

"I have an order for Ray ready," a voice called out, and Ray jolted up hastily, wiped the tears from his eyes with his fleece, and shuffled over to the counter, where the server was holding two drinks. He took them, offering a quiet thanks to the employee, and made his way back to their table.

Norman snatched the Paradise Latte greedily and took a long sip. When he finally took the drink down from his mouth, he had a milk moustache. A fond smirk blossomed on Ray's face, and he suddenly experienced a strong urge to wipe it off. Before he thought about what he was doing, Ray reached out and wiped the milk off with his thumb.

Norman looked at him, surprised, a shade of scarlet steadily creeping across his face, and that was when Ray realized what he had done. His own face suddenly mirrored the colors of Norman's, and he hastily wiped his thumb off on his napkin. "Y-you had a milk mustache… from your drink… and I…"

"Ah," Norman squeaked, stumbling over his words. "Thanks. I-I didn't realize."

"Y-you're welcome," Ray replied, refusing to meet Norman's eyes. He was coming to a frightening realization, and he needed to be by himself, _now. _His eyes wandered around the store until he found a simple wooden clock propped up on the wall. "Gee, would you look at the time? I really need to get home, I still need to study for Mr. Minerva's test and write my biology essay! I should really go now, but I'm sure Emma would love to see you! I'll text her and tell her you got back!" He grabbed his drink, shoved on his jacket, and ran out the door with a final "Bye!"

He left an extremely confused and embarrassed boy sitting at the table, but Ray didn't care. He needed time to reflect, because… because…

How had he not noticed before just how _handsome_ Norman was?!


End file.
